Theodore's Exceptional Friends

The latest contender for children's attention in the relatively inexpensive to produce Transportation Vehicles with Faces and Voices genre (others include Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends [see VL Online] and The Adventures of Jay Jay the Jet Plane [VL-5/95]), Thedore's Exceptional Friends, hosted and narrated by Harbor Master Denny Doherty (of The Mamas and the Papas), offers five episodes featuring Theodore Tugboat and his tugboat pals. Although the segments themselves are relatively innocuous workhorse morality plays about acceptance, working together, being nice to others, and so on, the accompanying handbook is another story entirely. We're told that this compilation for children with "Special Needs" came about after scads of letters and emails from "parents of children with exceptionalities" (can you see my wince from here?). The vague appellation "Special Needs" is never defined; however, I can safely suggest that these comparatively slow and razzle-dazzle-less tales will hardly find favor with those "Special Needs" children who have ADHD. Besides being rather fuzzy, the booklet also includes such grammatical groaners as "consider the particular way your child communicates and their [italics mine] level of understanding." An optional purchase. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)